Fakten & Witziges

What Australian say – and what they really mean. Australia has given the world thousands of colouful words and expressions. From the back of Bourke to the rough end of the pineapple, it's all here. Aussie Slang is the phrase book for visitors to Oz interested in the local Australian Slang!

Australians pride themselves on being easy-going and informal. Their vocabulary with its colour, humour and inventiveness reflects these qualities. This thoroughly entertaining Australian slang dictionary will help you decipher and speak the true Aussie language.

Full of dazzling definitions from true-blue Aussies, you'll never be lost for words with this collection of colourful sayings. From aerial pingpong (Australian Rules Football) to on the wrong tram (to be following the wrong train of thought) and finishing up with some verbal diarrhoea (never-ending blather), your mind will be brimming with useful (and not so useful!) sayings for your next run-in with a true Aussie character.

And, for dinky-die Aussies living overseas, use this book to expand your vocabulary and increase your unique way of communicating.

Welcome to the world of Aussie slang - have a beaut, bonza rip snorter of a time reading this book. Updated with over 500 new sayings.

A popular combination of Australian slang quotes, sayings and full colour photography make up this humorous book. Each photograph depicts and illustrates the accompanying Aussie slang saying in a fun and intriguing way.

There are no flies on your typical little Aussie battler when it comes to the colorful expression of the well-aimed insult. This entertaining A-Z (from "Act the Angora" to "Zonked") of popular Australian slang contains a wealth of our funniest and most irreverent words and sayings, together with some almost-obsolete reminders of our rugged colonial past.

A selection of classic Australian folk songs and verse (also part of our rich oral tradition) has been scattered throughout to help bring to life some of our older expressions. Geoff Hocking's outrageous cartoons add to the fun.

In A Sunburned Country is Bill Bryson's report on what he found in the country that doubles as a continent, and a place with the friendliest inhabitants, the hottest, driest weather, and the most peculiar and lethal wildlife to be found on the planet: Australia. The result is a deliciously funny, fact-filled, and adventurous performance by a writer who combines humor, wonder, and unflagging curiousity.

Despite the fact that Australia harbors more things that can kill you in extremely nasty ways than anywhere else, including sharks, crocodiles, snakes, even riptides and deserts, Bill Bryson adores the place, and he takes his readers on a rollicking ride far beyond that beaten tourist path. Wherever he goes he finds Australians who are cheerful, extroverted, and unfailingly obliging, and these beaming products of land with clean, safe cities, cold beer, and constant sunshine fill the pages of this wonderful book. Australia is an immense and fortunate land, and it has found in Bill Bryson its perfect guide.

First Dog on the Moon's Christmas Story: The Christmas Story.

Beautiful, simple, inspirational…and not just for Christians. Actually, it's not all that simple either.

It turns out there are a few burning Christmass-y questions to tackle:

• Who told the Christmas Story in the first place?

• Why did they leave the donkey out?

• Did the nativity really happen in a stable or in someone's spare room?

• Three kings, or an unspecified number of wise men?

• And where does the rowboat come into it?

With the help of expert consultants the Biblical scallops, we hear all about the gospels and who wrote them. And what happened next. And how it's a story for all of us, that we can all have a part in.

This is a gorgeous, funny, gentle-hearted retelling of the most famous story of all that also tells the story of the story itself. You'll want to read it aloud together, and sit down alone with it. You'll want to give it to the people you love, and get an extra one for yourself. It will be your favourite festive book this Christmas and every Christmas.

First published in 1988, What Happened When continues to settle arguments, refresh memories, furnish some surprises, and answer a lot of questions.

When was the Melbourne Cup first run?
When did women get the vote?
When did Vegemite and Violet Crumble bars first appear?
When did Nellie Melba give her last Australian concert?
When did any noteworthy event happen in Australia? What Happened When has all the answers.
If you want to know what was going on in the year you or your parents were born, you can browse. In 1932, for example, you will find that the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened, Phar Lap died, the ABC was established, Ion Idriess wrote Flynn of the Inland, Walter Lindrum made a world-record billiards break of 4,137, the basic wage was £3 3s 11d, and over 30 per cent of the workforce was unemployed.

The year-by-year arrangement of the text makes reference easy and the 132-page index is a valuable source in itself, providing both answers to specific questions (What was Ben Chifley's full name? When was On the Beach written and filmed?) and potted histories of events, people and institutions.
<br<what happened="" when="" is="" an="" invaluable="" reference="" for="" librarians,="" archivists,="" students,="" historians,="" pub="" arguers,="" puzzle="" solvers="" and="" anyone="" interested="" in="" australia's="" history.="" 'For anyone who has tried to check facts and dates in Australian history . . . this could be a godsend . . .' Sydney Morning Herald

'There is no doubting the book's pre-eminent browsability. The index and cross-reference are superb.' The Australian'

With over 240 entries new to this Aussie Slang edition, this text is a comprehensive reference to Australian slang. The book includes translations of such Aussie slang phrases as "rattle your dags" and explains such descriptions as "a lair who likes to stir the possum".

In A Sunburned Country is Bill Bryson's report on what he found in the country that doubles as a continent, and a place with the friendliest inhabitants, the hottest, driest weather, and the most peculiar and lethal wildlife to be found on the planet: Australia. The result is a deliciously funny, fact-filled, and adventurous performance by a writer who combines humor, wonder, and unflagging curiousity.

Despite the fact that Australia harbors more things that can kill you in extremely nasty ways than anywhere else, including sharks, crocodiles, snakes, even riptides and deserts, Bill Bryson adores the place, and he takes his readers on a rollicking ride far beyond that beaten tourist path. Wherever he goes he finds Australians who are cheerful, extroverted, and unfailingly obliging, and these beaming products of land with clean, safe cities, cold beer, and constant sunshine fill the pages of this wonderful book. Australia is an immense and fortunate land, and it has found in Bill Bryson its perfect guide.

Great Aussie Slang is a true blue dictionary of Aussie lingo for all those who haven't the foggiest what 'packing poleta', 'out of whack' and 'like buggery' mean. Even if you're not a brick short of a wall you could come a clanger if you don't check out the Australian slang definitions in this beaut little book. Orright, mate?